


better halves of a coin

by machiabellian



Category: Love Live! School Idol Project
Genre: Angst, Bottled up emotions, F/F, Gen, Inferiority Complex, nothing too romantic but there's Nothing in the kotonico tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-09
Updated: 2015-08-09
Packaged: 2018-04-13 20:44:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4536693
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiabellian/pseuds/machiabellian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>From her days working in a cafe herself, Nico remembered when she first heard of Minalinsky: a living, breathing, walking urban legend of sorts in the maid cafe world. </p><p>A legend, Nico thought. Certainly not an underclassman.</p><p>--</p><p>Just some girls workin' out their messed up feelings :")</p>
            </blockquote>





	better halves of a coin

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thePrincessFish](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thePrincessFish/gifts).



> I've been sitting on this for a while now, but I managed to get this finished up for my friend Rita's birthday!! a BIG, BIG thanks to winter and kri for helping me beta!
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

Nico scrunched her brows at the frame in her hands again. 

After "Minami" forever replaced "Minalinsky" in Nico's mind, she wasn't quite sure how to feel about the autograph she'd bought online—nor how to feel about any of the huge collection of Minalinsky merchandise that she had gathered over the past few months, for that matter. From her days working in a cafe herself, Nico remembered when she first heard of Minalinsky: a living, breathing, walking urban legend of sorts in the maid cafe world. 

 _A legend_ , Nico thought. _Certainly not an underclassman._

When Kotori's identity was revealed, Nico was shocked, yes. But she felt something she could only later describe as betrayal sting her first. _Nico_ had been the one who passingly pinned Kotori down as the meek, innocent maid type during opening ceremony at the start of her second year at Otonokizaka, when one of her friends excitedly pointed out to her the principal's daughter sitting just a few rows away from them. 

When Kotori revealed who she was, it wasn't the usual self-righteous pride that would've resulted from having the right hunch that Nico felt filling her up inside. It was jealousy. 

If someone as perfectly maid material as Kotori became an idol, of course all eyes would be on her. Nico knew what the audience looked for, and it definitely wasn't the person that she desperately tried to hide with her "Nico Nico Nii~!" persona—she knew that for sure. 

 

"Ah, Nico-chan?" A small knock at the club room door snapped Nico back to Earth. Miss Doe Eyes herself stood waiting at the entrance. 

"I wanted to finish up taking everyone's measurements today.... Is there any chance you could let me take yours really quickly?" 

"Sure, but—right here?" Nico couldn't set the autograph down fast enough. 

Kotori took several steps forward with a knit bag in hand. "Yes, of course! I've already gotten all my things with me. I'll try to be quick...." She had already pulled out a tape measure and some pen and paper, and Nico scrambled up from her seat to oblige her, hoping to put some space between the two of them and the table in case Kotori saw what she'd been scowling at. 

She was in the clear as Kotori diligently stretched and re-stretched the tape measure across her back—or so Nico thought. 

"Aaahh... this brings me back...!" Kotori cooed. "I remember only signing a few autographs way back when Minalinsky was really popular!"

What followed was a half-shriek, half-squawk, a blur of movement as Nico flipped around to snatch the frame away, and a face sputtering and burning red, all within a matter of seconds. 

She'd meant to say sorry, to say how weird it must be to see her friend and senpai having something like that, maybe even make up some flimsy excuse like she was going to sell it online for club funds. But Nico's eyes squeezed shut as she spat out the ugliness festering in her chest. 

"'Way back when'? You think you're not popular now? Because I can tell you right here and now that that's not true." 

Some part of Nico called her to look Kotori dead in the eyes as she said this, but all she could manage was a harsh glare off to the side of them. 

"You're smart. You're sweet. You're the school chairman's daughter, for fuck's sake! You're absolutely _perfect_. Why the hell wouldn't you be popular??"  Nico breathed deep and shuddered, stubbornly fighting off tears. If she started breaking down now, she felt like she would be defeating herself in some twisted way.

"Even if you weren't popular, you already have a promising future in fashion. Being an idol is all I can ever imagine myself being, all I'll ever let myself be. You don't even have to be a school idol, or a maid, or anything besides... just being yourself to make me feel like everything I've ever worked for is insignificant."

At this, Nico felt her gaze finally rise up to see the damage she'd wrought, her lungs on fire. 

Kotori was still. It looked like she didn't know quite how to feel, but Nico felt words churn in the pit of her stomach: This was it. What little they had was over for them. 

Nico bit her lips as Kotori opened hers. "Nico-chan. I'm sorry, but... to borrow your words for it, I can tell you right here and now that that's just simply not _true_."

Nico's eyes flared and her teeth gritted, immediately ready to bite back for the salt in her freshly opened wounds before she opened her mouth again.

"No, wait! Nico-chan, please just listen to me." Kotori's eyes implored Nico's own, and Kotori reached out for the other's wrist to sit them both down. "Won't you... listen to my side of things?"

They sat face to face. Nico tightly crossed her arms at her chest and broke off eye contact—protecting herself. 

"I.... I've always been the one chasing after other people, Nico-chan. No matter what I did, I just knew I would never be as warm and bright as Honoka-chan or as beautiful and graceful as Umi-chan. It won't even matter who my mother is once I graduate from here, either. So I tried working hard... and doing my best, and eventually I found I was good at sewing and found a job in Akihabara. But, Nico-chan, I would have never known that if I was ever 'perfect' like you say I am! I'm anything but 'perfect'!!"

She reached out and grasped the other's hands, and Nico's eyes slowly drifted up to meet Kotori once she felt how badly the latter was shaking. 

"It... hurts me to hear you say that you think I'm good enough to make you feel insignificant. Because to me, you're every bit of a hero as Honoka-chan and Umi-chan are." Kotori choked these words out in sobs. "I know how hard you've been working all this time. When we found out how you desperately you wanted to become an idol, it moved me. I'd never been certain about where I wanted to end up in life, but Nico-chan.... You've known this whole time."

 _What the hell_  was Nico's first thought. The words she'd just heard were almost foreign to her, as if they weren't even being used to describe her.  Another _what the hell_ flashed through her mind as she finally noticed the big wet tears dripping onto both of their connected hands, and she shrugged one of hers away to furiously scrub at her cheeks. 

"It's true.... I'm not just saying this to make you less angry." Kotori used a handkerchief from her pocket to help dab at her friend's face. 

 _It's just like her to have a handkerchief at the ready_ , Nico thought.

"It.... wouldn't be like you to lie about something like that." Nico tugged the white cloth out of Kotori's hands and folded the other side over to begin wiping the snot and tears off of the other girl. "And it wasn't right of me to just dump all of that on you and to just explode like that. I'm supposed to be the bigger and better person here, right? So I'm sorry." 

"It'th, ogkay...." Kotori mumbled as Nico finished going over her nose. "I'm just happy.... We finally got to say how were both feeling. And I hope that you feel as much of a weight off of your shoulders as I do." And with that, Kotori beamed a smile so stunningly bright that Nico didn't know how to react other than reflexively close her hand tight over the handkerchief with Kotori still sandwiched beneath it.

Kotori must've squeaked loud enough for someone outside the club room to hear, and three hands reached up to cover her mouth in surprise. 

Just imagining what the two of them must look like to anyone else, with both of them leaned in close with Nico still practically honking Kotori's nose, brought a giggle bubbling up in both of their chests, one that left the two girls snorting and in tears all over again, arms draped over each other in a hug that brought them closer than they'd ever been to one another before. 


End file.
